Breakthrough Review

Breakthrough had a few redeeming elements but never escaped being a bad movie. This movie is inspired by true events and is about a 14-year-old boy who drowned and was declared dead. As the mom was praying loudly, all of a sudden, the boy had a pulse. Chrissy Metz gives an okay performance. She has a few really strong moments but for the most part, her character drove me crazy. Josh Lucas gives a good performance. He is not given a ton to do early on but really shines in the second half. Topher Grace gives a great performance. He did well with the dramatic scenes while also bringing a good sense of levity to the film. Mike Colter is the best part of this movie. He gives a deep performance with actual weight to it. Roxann Dawson did an okay job directing. The cinematography looks like a real film, but the direction is very bland. The script is a mixed bag filled with an awful main character and some really cringy dialogue but also some genuinely moving and funny moments. The side plots were all far more interesting than the main plot and the movie sets up numerous, more interesting stories but never develops them. The soundtrack of this movie is notably awful. The decision to use secular music that had to be censored for a Christian film kept taking me out of the movie. At 116 minutes the pacing is all over the place and sometimes drags and then speeds over the interesting stuff way too quick. Overall Breakthrough had some redeeming qualities but not enough to outweigh its poor main plot.
4/10